Now That You're Older
by Linaritara
Summary: Jack and the Doctor run into each other in a bar, 300 years or so, after the YTNW. It's another chance for both of them.


**Thanks to Pipkinsweetgrass, who gave me the idea. Hope it's alright, and it probably needs editing, but I wanted it up and done with. Read and review, crit welcome. ~ Linaritara**

It was the usual sort of bar that he frequented. Low lights, crowded, bit of dancing on the side, rooms for rent upstairs, and drinks from all over the universe. The bartender kept glancing at him with a look of suspicion on his scaly face, but that was no surprise. You didn't see many humans in 37th century bars on Xanthar. They usually got banned, too rowdy.

He wasn't there for rowdy though, just passing through for a drink. And maybe a glimpse of an old friend. Well, more than a glimpse, if he could manage it, but that wasn't a given.

As he slipped through the crowd, a glass of Teleerian brandy clutched firmly in one hand, he thought he saw someone. The one. His pace and heartrate increased, and he ended up pushing several people out of the way. He gave one of them the brandy in apology.

It was him, the man he was looking for, he was so sure of it. He'd know that coat, those shoes anywhere, even here. In less than a minute he caught up, put one hand on a familiar shoulder, and grinned as the man turned around.

"Jack?" the man asked incredulously.

"Doctor." Jack said, feeling happier than he had in awhile. He engulfed the Doctor in a hug before the Time Lord could say anything further, and said into his shoulder, "It's been awhile."

"How long, for you?" the Doctor asked, still looking surprised, disbelieving.

"Three hundred years, give or take. Since that Year. How about you?"

"Ninety-fiveish. I meant to come back, check on you, but..."

Jack's expression saddened, a little. "You were busy. I know."

"Yeah." The Doctor looked vaguely apologetic now. He searched for something to lighten the mood, this reunion, then said, "But look at you! Captain Jack Harkness, a singer! Blimey, I never thought of you on a stage."

"Really?" Jack laughed. "Everyone says I look like a natural. I do a bit of acting, sometimes, as well. You know, introduce Shakespeare to the poor kids of Garagol 7, that sort of thing."

"Ooh, Shakespeare. Do you do Othello? I always liked that one. You know, I met Shakespeare once, with Martha..."

His voice trailed away as Jack took his arm, and led him to a table. They sat, and Jack slipped a few coins into a slot, which activated the sound barrier. Almost immediately, the noise of the bar was reduced to faint murmurs.

The two men faced each other, one lanky, hair a mess, and with an undercurrent of energy, bubbling energy. The other slightly shorter, broader, dark hair in the same style that it had had three hundred years ago. Still wearing a military coat, but a blue one this time, of thinner, stronger material. The one similarity they both shared was the sense of time you could see in their eyes. The look of wisdom hard won over the centuries.

Jack stared at the Doctor, and the Time Lord was struck by how old he seemed. Very much like himself, on bad days.

"Are you travelling with anyone, anymore?" Jack asked, sounding a little husky.

"No...there was a girl, but...no, I'm all alone now. Just me and the TARDIS."

The Doctor's voice wavered slightly on those last words, and Jack saw a long awaited opportunity. A chance.

He leaned over the table - actually he leaned through it, those 4D holograms could look quite realistic - and captured the Doctor's mouth, gently, firmly. Insistently.

"Jack," the Doctor moaned softly, some minutes later.

"Yeah?" Jack was breathless, breathing hard.

"I've got an offer, for you. Should be good for the next few hundred years...Come with me?"

"Make it the next thousand and you have a deal." The Doctor grinned crookedly, and they went off, the Lonely God and the Lonely Immortal. United by time, and one day, seperated by it.

**About ten minutes after finishing the above, my muse decided it was not actually finished, and I had to type out the below. Hope it makes a semblance of sense, for those of you who needed an explanation.**

"Why'd you do it, though?"

"What?" Jack gave him a look. "Oh, ask you to come with me?"

"Yeah. I'd be flattered if you said I'm good with my mouth, but was there anything...else?"

"Anything important, you mean."

"Well yeah."

"I just...I was going to talk with you, you know. Just a conversation, catch-up. It's so hard to deal with you sometimes. An impossible thing. Impossible man. I've been settling down, in my old age-"

"You're not old!"

"Thanks Jack, but tell me that in a few centuries, and it'll be a lie. I - The girl, I said that we- we were going to travel together, see the universe...She was so like Rose, Jack. That wonder, and innocence. And I couldn't stand it. I worried about her, we took two trips and both of them were so boring that she went home four days after leaving. I couldn't bear the responsibility, again."

"So you offered because you don't have to look after me?" Jack was hurt, he could tell.

"No. I offered because you can look after me. And we can trust each other not to do something completely stupid. You know how those humans can be...so spur of the moment! Foolishness."

Jack snorted at this. "Pot kettle black, Doctor. Pot kettle black."

"Well maybe...but you see what I mean? You've aged Jack, inside if not out. Matured. And that's...that's what we needed. Us."

"So now we're an old couple? This day is getting weirder and weirder..."

"Come over here, Jack Harkness, and I'll show you exactly how old I am!"

The door slammed shut. The TARDIS hummed happily. Life, timeless life, was good.

_finis._


End file.
